15-Day Comment Period Opens for Draft List of Awards for Delta Water Quality and Fish Facilities Program

The California Department of Water Resources is pleased to announce a 15-day public comment period for the Delta Water Quality and Fish Facilities Program draft list of awards.

The Delta Water Quality and Fish Facilities Grant Program provides $14.25 million of funding from bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 50 - The Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002. Proposed awards are for projects that fit the criteria of any of the following categories eligible for funding under this Program:

(i) Constructs treatment facilities or relocates discharge facilities for agricultural drainage generated within the Delta to improve water quality in the Delta or the quality of water that is transported from the Delta.

(ii) Constructs facilities to control waste discharges that contribute to low dissolved oxygen and other water quality problems in the lower San Joaquin River and the south Delta.

(iii) Constructs fish facilities for the State Water Project or the Central Valley Project intakes in the south Delta, such as facilities for fish screens, fish handling, and fish passage, or modifications to intake structures or other facilities, to reduce losses of any life stages of fish to water diversions in the San Joaquin River and the Delta in accordance with paragraph (1) of Section (C) of Chapter IV of the board’s 1995 water quality control plan.

(iv) Constructs a permanent barrier at the head of Old River to improve fish migration and other permanent barriers in the south delta channels to improve water quality and water level for local diversions.

(v) Constructs facilities to control drainage from abandoned mines that adversely affect water quality in the Bay-Delta.

(vi) Constructs a permanent barrier at Grantline Canal to improve water quality and water levels for local diversion.

To help ensure the advancement of projects with the greatest feasibility and public benefit value, funding will support those projects that are consistent with local and state adopted plans for Delta water quality and ecosystem enhancement.

Management at DWR’s Division of Integrated Watershed Management is proposing to provide funding for two grant applications as detailed in the draft list of awards.

View the Delta Water Quality and Fish Facilities Program Draft List of Awards.

Proposed Awards

• City of Stockton for $9.5 million – This proposed award is for City of Stockton’s Regional Wastewater Control Facility East Bank Outfall Relocation project, which will consolidate the City of Stockton's Regional Wastewater Control Facility effluent disposal operations and maintenance activities by relocating the current effluent discharge into the San Joaquin River from the west side levee bank to the east side.  
• City of Stockton for $500,000 – This proposed award provides bond funds to construct a monitoring station in the San Joaquin River located at the City's Delta Water Supply Intake Pump Station. The monitoring station will serve as a data collection point that can be included with DWR's river monitoring system.

Submission of Comments

The 15-day public comment period begins on May 10, 2023 and will close at 5 p.m. on May 24, 2023. Please submit your comments on the draft awards via email to DWQ@water.ca.gov or by mail to the following address:

Department of Water Resources
Division of Multi-benefit Initiatives
Attn: Bryan Brock
715 P Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

For questions or additional information, please send an email to DWQ@water.ca.gov or contact Bryan Brock at bryan.brock@water.ca.gov or (916) 820-7741.